Hi Ruth
I saved this post from months ago - I save all the posts I think will be useful to me so I dont have to go back and search the archives.
Anyway, I would love to have a copy of your ante-natal meetings. I am an IBCLC in the Bahamas, Freeport, actually. I am going to teach a class at the ante-natal clinic twice a week.
I was thinking about what to "teach" and I came up with asking the mothers wha they have heard about breastfeeding-good and bad-who they know who has breastfed and what they want to know about b/f. I kept thinking though maybe this wasnt going to be "good" enough and was thinking should I start with advantages of b/f or the first few days, or positioning. However, I kept coming back to "just ask the mothers." Then, I was going through my posts for pictures of positioning etc when I came upon your post. :) As I said I would love to have a copy if you would kindly e-mail it to me.
Shirley, LLL, IBCLC,
Ruth Fiedler <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi All
I recently changed dramatically the information that I give at these classes
and my purpose has also dramatically changed. The result has been that
mothers now contact whether or not things are going well. Where they are we
rejoice and when not then we look at the problem and make a range of
suggestions. The suggestions are aimed at empowering the mother to make her
own choices rather than being given a prescriptive set of ideas to follow.
The end result is that mothers are coming back and refering friends.
So what is the goal - to be a friendly, non-judgemental face that mothers
can approach after the birth.
What do we do in the hour - ask the mothers and their partners what do they
want to know? What have they heard about breastfeeding? The group
participants become the driving force not me.
The approach always ensures that there is discussion on -
basics of attachment
how milk is made
Red flags - pain, low nappy counts, unsettled/sleepy babyies
Where to get help.
the roll of skin to skin
Preparing for birth - looking at breasts in the mirror, practice shaping,
extra meals
the role of Dad (I always tell the men just how critical their support is)
These points are then discussed with a context that is saliant for the
participants, is informal and less threatening, makes breastfeeding
achievable and possible for them (too much information in a context that is
outside the groups understanding does tend to make breastfeeding a very
complicated "act")
Where there is little or discussion, we show a video about the first week
and what is normal. This always leads to discussions and the above points
are discussed.
We have given up talking about how to attach and giving lots and lots of
detail. We have found that it is all forgotten anyway so we to aim to leave
the impression that we are real people who genuinely want to empower mothers
(and parents) to parent the way they see fit. Words such as intuition,
suggestions, right-for-you, keys to successful parenting but details will
vary are used liberally.
We have this approach as much of what happens in the delivery room has a
profound impact on breastfeeding. It has been our approach to educate the
midwives about the nitty gritty since their attitude can empower or
disempower mothers. As I have already said, this approach has seen an
increase in the numbers of woman breastfeeding and express desire to
breastfeed. The local Breastfeeding Support group is has also seen an
increase in numbers of pregnant mothers joining before the birth and
increased numbers after the birth too.
If you are interested in seeing the "lesson tree" - not a plan as the flow
of the lesson is dependant on the group, I would be happy to send it to you.
Ruth Fiedler
Australian breastfeeding Counsellor
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